September 11, 2003

To be sure, Nozal promised he'd put everything into defending his 50-second hold on the race leader's jersey, but no one expected him to do it in such dominant fashion. Not even Nozal himself.

"I thought I had good chances to limit my losses and keep the jersey, but I never dreamed of winning like this," said Nozal, who powered through fierce winds to beat David Millar by an impressive 1 minute, 20 seconds.